Adaptation
by Aesshen
Summary: Akari joins the Shiseiten, Akira tries a little too hard to be like Kyo, Hotaru should never listen to Akira, Bontenmaru is everyone's mother, and no one will ever understand what Kyo's really thinking.


Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Deeper Kyo. Unfortunately. That honor belongs to Kamijou Akimine and Kodansha and whoever else.

Notes: This is the first SDK fic I've written that I've liked enough (or finished enough) to post. It's utterly, totally, completely manga-inspired, and happens around six years before the main storyline takes place. Umm, I made some possibly non-canon assumptions… first that Akari would have been with the Shiseiten at least two years before Sekigahara, and second that Hotaru is younger than Kyo. He certainly acts like it, but I don't suppose that means anything.

Warnings: Various people's potty mouths and the perversion of stupid teenagers. One-sided yaoi, but if you're bothered by yaoi then you're not a person anyway.

Vocabulary: I tried to avoid using Japanese where possible, but some words don't translate very well into English. I think these are the only ones I used.

Kemono: beast or animal. The Shiseiten and Kyo's favorite nickname for Bontenmaru.

Yari: Japanese spear.

Hakama: long, full Japanese pants.

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Adaptation 

"So, what's your name?"

The short kid – he couldn't be more than thirteen – was the first one to actually ask her. Somehow it came as a surprise to her that they didn't already know. She felt so oddly at ease with these four men. Or, two men and two boys, as the case might be.

"Akari," she said. That was right – Akari, not Mitarai Toukichirou. Mitarai Toukichirou was long dead, anyway.

"I'm Akira," The short kid said. He was a friendly sort of boy, it seemed, and deceptively normal. It had been about five minutes since they had left her castle, and already she could tell that he idolized the red-eyed man.

Couldn't blame him much for that.

"It's cool, though, right? I'm Akira and you're Akari. The names are almost the same!" Akira grinned, so cutely she could have pinched his cheeks.

"I'm, of course, the great Bontenmaru-sama," The one-eyed man said, joining the conversation quite abruptly. "You'll have heard of me, naturally."

Akari blinked. "Umm… no?"

"Hah, serves you fucking _right_, Bon!" Akira said. "I bet she only knows your other name. Besides, when I grow up, I'm going to be a lot more famous than you!"

The logic of this sentence was questionable, but it made Bontenmaru redden. "Shut the hell up, Akira! Nothing could ever match my glory! Why, there was a time –"

"So what is his other name?" Akari asked.

"Date Masamune. Icky sort of name, isn't it?" Akira snickered. "I mean, Masamune."

"I don't think it's a bad name," The young man with the braid said unexpectedly. "But Bontenmaru sounds stupid."

"Hotaru, you little shit!" Bontenmaru roared. "You picking a fight?"

The young man – Hotaru – paused, as if thinking. "Nah, I'm too tired to fight a boring kemono like you."

"Hotaru, you're such a ditz," Akira complained genially. "Kyo says that if you start a fight you have to finish it too."

"Kyo?" Akari asked. "Is that –?"

She didn't even need to point at him or anything for them to understand that she meant the tall red-eyed man. Akira grinned. "Yeah, that's Kyo."

She nodded, registering the name, then tripped and almost fell when her mind made the connection. How many red-eyed samurai named Kyo could be running around Japan, anyway? (1) That man must be…

"He's… Onime no Kyo, right?" She barely breathed.

"Yup!" Akira chirped. "It took you this long to figure it out? Wow, you're even ditzier than Hotaru!"

She gave him a fairly dirty look and he subsided.

"Hell, though, you're lucky Kyo took such a liking to you," Bon commented. "You'd probably be dead now otherwise. Mouthing off at him like that… don't you have any sense of self-preservation?"

"About as much of one as you have, Bon," Hotaru said in a monotone. Actually, it seemed he never spoke in anything else. For all that he didn't look much older than Akira, he was as different from the younger boy as night from day.

Akira laughed. "Bon's right, though, isn't he, Hotaru? Akari ought to be afraid of Kyo. Everyone should be, he's the strongest man alive and all. Except me, of course, because I'm second strongest."

"No, I'm second strongest," Hotaru said. His eyes – normally about as passionate as those of the average dead fish – had acquired a little trace of annoyance.

"No, I am!"

"Those two will go on forever if they have the chance," Bon said to Akari. "It's a miracle they haven't fucking killed each other yet. But Kyo doesn't let them."

Akari was starting to see a pattern here. "He's really strong, isn't he? Kyo, that is."

"Yeah…" Bon looked over at the man in question, who was walking a couple paces ahead of the rest of the group. "Damn, but you haven't even seen him fight yet. Of course, when you see _me_ fight, you'll realize that I'm even stronger than him!"

He laughed uproariously at his own arrogance, then noticing that Akira and Hotaru had drawn swords on each other, hurried over to pluck the two apart. Akari took the chance to quicken her pace and draw alongside of Kyo.

"So where are we going now?" She asked, taking the chance to get a good look at his handsome face. Really, he was better looking than Nozomu. Or even Hishigi… but those weren't topics she wanted to dwell on.

He grinned at her. "Who cares? There's a war going on. I'm sure we'll find someone interesting to kill."

"Is that what you call a plan?"

"Maybe."

She laughed. "I don't know why… from you, that actually sounds fun!"

"All of Kyo's plans are good," Akira called from behind.

"Yeah, even the one back at that last castle worked out okay," Hotaru commented.

"No it didn't!" Bon protested.

"Oh, you're just still embarrassed because we used you as bait and you lost the bet about how well rice burns," Akira sniffed. "Honestly, you're such a stupid kemono."

"And you're a snot-nosed brat who ought to respect his betters!"

"Nah-nah, kemono!"

_I think I like these people_, Akari decided. "Hey, Hotaru. Want to tell me the details of that story?"

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After the sun had set and they'd made camp in a little grove some ways off the road, Akari said she'd go and take a bath in the nearby river.

"Cleanliness is important, after all!" She said cheerfully. "Especially when we're camping out."

"Have fun," Bon said, waving her off. Kyo was ignoring them.

Akira waited five minutes after she'd gone before he poked Hotaru in the ribs. "Hey, Hotaru. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He was a little flushed in the firelight, and grinning like a demon. "She's taking a fucking bath, smart stuff."

Hotaru blinked. "And?"

Akira sighed. "To take a bath, she has to get naked."

Wheels turned visibly inside Hotaru's brain. "Oh. Are we doing that again?"

"Yes, we're doing that again! Come on, or we'll miss it!"

Kyo was snickering, but neither of them noticed. They approached the river in absolute silence and with amazing speed – despite their bad habits and general idiocy, the two boys were still Shiseiten.

Akari had only just reached the river when they were already safely hidden in the bushes a little way from the bank. As they watched, she took the pins out of her hair, letting it fall down her back. They giggled (very quietly) as she proceeded to remove the rest of her elaborate clothing.

"Wish she'd turn around," Akira whispered.

"Mm-hmm," Hotaru mumbled back.

It was weird, though, Akira thought as Akari finally removed the last of her undergarments. Didn't most female warriors bind their breasts? And he hated to say it, but her body was kind of angular. Not good jerking off material at all.

Then she turned around, and Akira realized that he'd been using the wrong pronoun the whole time.

He and Hotaru glanced at each other, and ran back to camp. Akira had to keep himself from screaming.

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"You really didn't notice, Akira?" Bon said for what felt like the twelfth time. "Even though you knew about the rumors that the master of the castle was actually a guy in drag?"

"But – but – but – but!" The boy protested, face still burning red. Even Hotaru was looking a little embarrassed. "I thought the rumors were just rumors! I mean, when you look at her – him, she – he doesn't look like a guy! At all!"

Kyo was still snickering. As far as Hotaru and Akira could tell he hadn't stopped since they left for the river. "Kyo, don't laugh so much! It's not funny!"

"Yes, it is."

"Kyo, have some – some sympathy!"

"Oh, don't be such a fucking girl, Akira," Kyo said, red eyes dancing with amusement. "Of course, if you actually were a girl, you wouldn't have minded as much, I suppose."

"That's not – I – you – he – argh!" Thus saying, Akira went off to sulk in a corner. It was his usual way of dealing when the others ganged up on him.

"How did you tell, Kyo?" Hotaru asked.

"No woman is that flat."

"And what about you, Bon?"

"Kyo didn't try to hit on her. Him. Whatever."

"Oh," Hotaru said, satisfied.

"I'm back!" Akari, smiling, walked into the clearing. "It was so nice to get a chance to bathe after walking in that dusty road all day. Hey, Bon, is dinner ready yet?"

Akira appeared to be trying to crumple into the ground and disappear.

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Akari's first battle with the Shiseiten came the next day, at around noon. The sky was cloudy, full of the promise of rain, which put Kyo into a suspiciously good mood. Bon explained to Akari later that Kyo really wasn't much for sunny summer days.

As they walked on the road, they encountered a smallish army heading in the opposite direction. The usual exchange of names and insults revealed them to be Toyotomi's men, hurrying to join their master at his deathbed.

"Toyotomi, huh?" Kyo said. "You mean that lowborn monkey who calls himself a warlord? I guess it makes sense. You lot look almost pathetic enough to serve a piece of shit like that."

Akari almost felt sorry for the poor, foolish soldiers. They fell so easily for Kyo's taunts that some of them had attacked before he even finished his sentence.

What followed was a bloodbath, pure and simple. Kyo moved like a deadly breeze through the ranks, killing everything he touched. The other three spread out behind him, laughing as they mowed down the hapless ashigaru.

Akari decided that she might as well be some help in the fight. She concentrated on using her powers to rejuvenate the others as they fought, keeping them from exhaustion in the long battle. Even if they were Shiseiten, they couldn't help but tire out from killing this many men.

Akira, who was closest, shot her a surprised glance as he felt the energy flow into him. She only smiled and waved. He grinned back and froze the nearest dozen soldiers into enormous clumps of ice with a burst of cold she could feel from ten meters away.

_Huh_, Akari thought. _Wonder where he learned that._

After an hour or so of extended carnage, all of the soldiers had either fled or died under the combined might of Kyo and his Shiseiten. Kyo was uninjured, even after the long fight, but Akira had a nasty gash on one arm, and Bon and Hotaru both had suffered more minor injuries on the shoulder and leg respectively.

"Akira, you fucking idiot, I thought Kyo told you to be more careful on your right side," Bon said, a bit of real worry creeping into his blustery voice. "You wanna die before you turn fourteen?"

"Sorry," The boy said, in a small voice. Akari supposed the reprimand was amplified, coming even indirectly from Kyo. "There were five of them at the same time, you know? And I didn't see the guy with the yari until he'd already fucking got me."

"That's so uncool," Hotaru muttered.

"Yeah, and you're _so_ much better, Hotaru, you're injured too!"

"Both of you calm down," Akari interjected. "I'm perfectly willing to heal you if you both stand still long enough."

"Really?"

"You can do that?" Bon asked. Akari thought she saw Kyo glancing at her questioningly. _Does he know where this kind of power comes from?_

"Of course I can," She paused, and then smiled as an idea came into her head, a way to solidify her position in this fractious group. "But there's a price, of course."

"What?"

"Why?"

"Aren't we comrades? You have to do it for free!" Akira almost whined.

"Well, yes. But it's not such a high price," She giggled. "Only a secret."

"Whatever, then," Hotaru said. "I'll do it."

Glancing suspiciously at Bon and Akira, who were doing their best to hear (Kyo was, as usual, ignoring the proceedings), Hotaru whispered in her ear, "When I was fourteen I snuck into my brother's house and put cockroaches into his bed. And then I stayed around and watched."

"Really?" _This kid has a brother… whose house he had to _sneak_ into?_ "That's fine, here you go!"

And with one wave of her staff, she called upon the power Hishigi had taught her to use at will and healed Hotaru's wound.

He blinked in surprise (had he doubted that it would work?) and checked his leg. Sure enough, the injury was gone. Only the cut and blood in his hakama marked where it had been.

"Wow…" Akira breathed.

Bon laughed. "Hah, it actually worked! I'm next!"

Akari smiled, and then caught Kyo's eye on her again. _He knows… or at least suspects? If anyone would know Mibu power when they see it, it's him… I mean, half the things Hishigi used to say…_

She heard Bon and Akira's secrets next, and healed them as she'd promised, and glowed in their praise for a moment (she got the feeling that compliments were not something they bandied about lightly). When Kyo announced that it was time to move on if they wanted to reach the nearest village before dark, she smiled brightly at him.

"Just so you know, Kyo, whenever you're injured all you have to do is tell me," she said. "I'll cure you, totally free. I mean, I'm sure if it meant giving over any of your secrets you'd rather go without healing than tell me."

He snorted in a way that meant yes, and then smiled at her, and Akari knew she had found a place for herself that she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

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(1)Actually, there were two red-eyed samurai named (or at least sometimes known as) Kyo running around Japan at the time. But Akari really couldn't be blamed for not knowing this.


End file.
